Are We Nearing the End of Roe v. Wade?

In an interview with EWTN News Nightly, Marjorie Dannenfelser of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List said she was pleased with the pro-life actions President Trump has taken, including the reinstatement of a policy that prohibits the use of taxpayer money to fund abortions overseas. The policy was suspended by the Obama administration; Trump decided earlier this year to implement it once again. Dannenfelser said she was excited about the progress already made by the administration…but not as excited as she is about the actions that could still come before Trump’s term in office is over.

“There are several items that are very measurable so far, that are very successful,” she said. “One would be the reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy. There’s no question that the Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch, is a complete success.”

Dannenfelser said that if another spot opens on the Supreme Court, it could be the moment pro-life conservatives have been waiting more than 40 years for.

“If we can get even one more like Neil Gorsuch,” she said, “we’re talking about overturning Roe v. Wade.”

President Trump has been circumspect in his desire to see the landmark Supreme Court case overturned, but he has said many times that it would come as the natural result of putting conservative judges on the nation’s high court. In an op-ed published during the campaign, then-candidate Trump was sharply critical of the controversial decision:

The Supreme Court in 1973 based its decision on imagining rights and liberties in the Constitution that are nowhere to be found. Even if we take the court at its word, that abortion is a matter of privacy, we should then extend the argument to the logical conclusion that private funds, then, should subsidize this choice rather than the half billion dollars given to abortion providers every year by Congress. Public funding of abortion providers is an insult to people of conscience at the least and an affront to good governance at best.

If using taxpayer money to facilitate our slide to a culture of death were not enough, the 1973 decision became a landmark decision demonstrating the utter contempt the court had for federalism and the 10th Amendment. Roe v. Wade gave the court an excuse to dismantle the decisions of state legislatures and the votes of the people. This is a pattern that the court has repeated over and over again since that decision. Roe v. Wade became yet another incidence of disconnect between the people and their government.

This is a decision that so many conservatives would love to see come down from the Supreme Court, but so few seem to believe that the day could actually be arriving within our lifetimes. But make no mistake, we’re closer today than we’ve ever been before. If this is something that Trump can make happen before leaving office, he’ll be celebrated by pro-lifers until the end of time.